Why Fernando Torres Struggled at Chelsea
Fernando Torres was one of the most promising strikers in the world in the early 2000s and by the end of that decade he was living up to his potential. His 2007 transfer to Liverpool made him a certified star and became one of the best players in the world, to the point that a lot of teams wanted to sign him, among them Chelsea, the club that would end up signing him in January of 2011.
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The Context of the Transfer
As mentioned earlier, Fernando Torres joined Liverpool from Spanish side Atlético Madrid in the summer of 2007 and made a tremendous leap in quality, becoming one of the best players in the world. His first three seasons had the Spaniard scoring regularly and displaying a degree of skill and match-winning performances that he promised when he was younger at Atletico.However, before and after the 2010 World Cup, which he won with Spain, the striker was dealing with various injuries and the 2010/11 showed that he was struggling to recover his best form. This made his £50 million move to Chelsea in January of 2011 all the more surprising, even to his former teammates.
"We were watching him every day in training and he wasn't the same player, physically or mentally," Jamie Carragher said in 2024. "He started getting injuries in his second season at Liverpool but he still did really well, then in his third season he was not the same player."
"Rafa (Benitez) goes and Roy Hodgson comes in and he was just in a different headspace. He wasn't great, but what happened was when he signed his contract Liverpool put a release clause in his contract for £50million, which was massive money then. When we were getting the £50million for Torres we were like, 'wow, they're not getting the Torres we know'. We knew that at the time."
His Time at Chelsea
All in all, Torres scored 45 goals in 172 matches across all competitions for Chelsea, including a key goal against FC Barcelona in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semifinals, competition they would ultimately win. However, the striker was signed by what was a hefty fee at the time and the combination of injuries and pressure piled up, costing him to perform."The people are looking at me thinking I should do much better and it's true," he told Chelsea TV in 2013. "The reason you pay that money for someone is that he has shown in the past he is worth that. Now what you have to show is you can have the same value or even more value for things you have done at Chelsea. I know I have many things to do at this club to give the confidence back to the owner. The amount of goals I scored last season should be the minimum."
Furthermore, long after retiring, the striker would open up regarding the culture at Stamford Bridge and how that affected him.
"Even if I was playing good after that, if I didn't score a goal the criticism would come," Torres said in 2020. "Maybe I didn't find the partnership I had with Gerrard, Xabi and Mascherano. It was my fault. I played really good football but I didn't do it every weekend. I knew that if you go to Chelsea, every year if you change the manager, it will be a top club. I knew the difficulties of going to Chelsea. I thought it was the team that offered more chances to win trophies. I was right that they could win the Champions League. It was a great generation and finally we did it."
His best season with the Blues was the 2012/13 one when he coincided with Spanish manager Rafa Benitez, who got the best out of him during his time with Liverpool. He scored 22 goals in 64 matches across all competitions, which is something that was quite positive considering how underwhelming he was before and after. Torres also ended the season by winning the UEFA Europa League.
"Chelsea gave me what I was looking for when I left Liverpool: trophies," Torres said back in 2014. "I will always see [my time there] as a success because they gave me what I always wanted. It gave me all the trophies I have with clubs and I was lucky enough to also win trophies with Spain."
He would go on loan to AC Milan in 2014 and then return on loan to Atletico Madrid, being bought by the latter by the end of the 2014/15 season. Torres' time with Chelsea was ultimately viewed as a flop, and perhaps rightfully so, given the fact that he never managed to live up to the expectations that came with his price tag.
There is also the fact that injuries took a massive toll on his body and he couldn't perform like he used to, which is something that also has to be taken into account. Ultimately, it is a very good example of how injuries can slow down a player's progress and how big money moves can add a lot of unnecessary pressure for said players.
If anything, it is one of English football's biggest cautionary tales.